Guardians’ path to playoff spot, AL Central title becomes clearer: ‘We’re focused on us’

By Zack Meisel
Sept. 27, 2025 6:00 am EDT

CLEVELAND — If you stepped inside the home clubhouse Thursday night, you wouldn’t know the Cleveland Guardians dropped the series finale to the Detroit Tigers. A JBL Partybox speaker blared EDM as a small group of players gathered in one corner of the room for a round of Super Smash Bros.

There was no evidence of dwelling on a missed opportunity, of sulking about a lackluster performance at the plate or a missed pitch execution that resulted in a Tigers home run. The Guardians employed the same postgame approach after their series finale defeat in Minnesota a week ago.

They accomplished their goals for that series, or that week, so why move about in silence after the game? Why put on an act of performative frustration when the team has been tearing through its September schedule?

Well, the clubhouse vibe shifted after a 7-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Friday. It resembled the customary, post-loss environment: library-like decibel levels, quick exits, no sticking around to monitor the Houston Astros’ score.

The Boston Red Sox handed the Guardians a gift by roaring back to take down the Tigers on Friday. That kept the Guardians and Tigers knotted at the top of the American League Central, and the Guardians own the all-important tiebreaker.

And, sure, Cleveland’s players and coaches caught wind of what unfolded at Fenway Park, which reduced the Guardians’ magic number to two to clinch the AL Central. But they weren’t in the mood to savor that outcome when they laid an egg in their series opener against Texas.

“We’re focused on us,” Slade Cecconi said. “We’re trying to win the next two games and take care of it. It’s nice that that game went the way it did, but we are in control of our own destiny. That’s where we’re focused.”

Cecconi surrendered four runs in the first six batters of the game Friday. He had allowed two runs on six hits across 20 2/3 innings in his previous three starts.

Cleveland’s rotation has sprung a rare leak the last two days, but the staff was bound to falter eventually after stringing together 19 consecutive starts without allowing more than two runs. That tied the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays for the longest such streak since the 1917 Chicago White Sox.

Really, the Guardians need the lineup to flash a sign of life. Kyle Manzardo answered the Rangers’ four-spot with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, but Cleveland mustered little else.

With two days remaining in the regular season, the cobweb of scenarios is gaining some clarity.

Any combination of two Guardians wins or Tigers losses this weekend will secure a second straight division title for Cleveland. So, the Guardians could be soaking the home clubhouse in champagne as soon as Saturday night — or, not at all.

If the Guardians go 2-0 against the Rangers … they win the division, regardless of what the Tigers do.

If the Guardians go 1-1 against the Rangers … they win the division if the Tigers go 0-2 or 1-1 against the Red Sox.

If the Guardians go 0-2 against the Rangers … they win the division if the Tigers go 0-2 against the Red Sox.

The Red Sox clinched a wild-card berth Friday, so we’ll see how motivated they are the next two days. The Tigers could turn to ace Tarik Skubal on regular rest Sunday if they’re desperate for a win. Or, they could hold him back and instead start him in Game 1 of a wild-card series Tuesday. The Guardians are in the same predicament with Gavin Williams.

The division isn’t the only path to the playoffs, of course. If the Guardians can at least match the Astros’ final record, they would clinch a playoff spot ahead of Houston. That would require only one more Guardians win or one more Astros loss, thanks to the Los Angeles Angels’ comeback win against Houston on Friday.

At this point, Cleveland can be only the No. 3 seed or the No. 6 seed. The Guardians don’t hold the tiebreaker over the Red Sox, so they can’t catch Boston for the No. 5 seed. The Guardians do hold the tiebreaker over the Astros because of their three-game sweep in Houston in July, which came on the heels of their 10-game skid. That series, in some ways, saved their season. Not only did it land them a tiebreaker that could come in handy months later, but also it jump-started a monthlong stretch that vaulted the Guardians back into the wild-card race and convinced the front office not to trade All-Star left fielder Steven Kwan.

Now, the Guardians simply need to win to get in. They could beg for more help from the Red Sox and the Angels, but they would prefer to handle it themselves. They’ll turn to Joey Cantillo on Saturday night (7:15 p.m. ET first pitch), likely armed with the knowledge of how the Tigers fared, since Detroit and Boston square off at 4:10 p.m. ET.

“It hurts to lose right now because everything’s magnified,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s a short schedule left. But our guys are going to come ready. Even after the third out, everybody’s like, ‘Hey, let’s get ’em tomorrow.’ This group doesn’t get fazed by anything.”

WOW

Guardians overtake Tigers to win AL Central, a division they once trailed by 15 1/2 games

By Zack Meisel
Sept. 28, 2025Updated 6:14 pm EDT

CLEVELAND — This was supposed to be the day the 2025 Guardians’ obituary was printed. Instead, it’s a celebration of new life.

On the morning of July 9, the Guardians sat in fourth place in the AL Central, staring up at the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals and the division-leading Detroit Tigers. They sat closer to the cellar-dwelling Chicago White Sox than to first place.

By sheer deficit, that was the nadir. No team in major-league history had ever climbed out of a hole that deep to stand tall at the end of the regular season.

By that measure, what the Guardians have accomplished is historic. They are AL Central champions for the second straight year. Last season, they clutched onto first place for all but six days. This season, they traveled a much rockier path to the top.

“We don’t make things easy on ourselves, but I give our guys a ton of credit,” said team president Chris Antonetti in the Guardians’ clubhouse Saturday night after the team clinched a playoff berth. “No matter what the game was, no matter what the score, we found a way. The goal is to be one run better than the other team. Too many nights, we were just one run better, but it’s still a win.”

That snapshot in early July doesn’t reveal the entire story of the Guardians’ revival. They had more than three months to chip away at the Tigers’ lead.

On the morning of Sept. 4, however, they still trailed by 11 games. Projection systems declared the division race over. In a span of two and a half weeks, the Guardians chased down Detroit and then held on for the final few days.

These teams will meet again at Progressive Field in the Wild Card round.
How Did We Get Here?
Guardians complete implausible run, clinch playoff spot: ‘Our group was never daunted’
Guardians complete implausible run, clinch playoff spot: ‘Our group was never daunted’
Jakob Junis has waited for this. And he wants his teammates — many of them younger — to savor this moment.

The 1914 Boston Braves previously held the record for the largest deficit overcome (15 games) to reach the playoffs. They stumbled to a 4-18 and 26-40 record before surging to a World Series title. In the divisional era (since 1969), the 1978 New York Yankees staged a comeback from 14 games down in mid-July to overtake the Boston Red Sox in the AL East.

On the other end, the Tigers earn the dubious distinction of coughing up the largest September lead in the divisional era. That title, per the Elias Sports Bureau, previously belonged to the 1995 California Angels, who relinquished a 7 1/2 game lead to the Seattle Mariners. That Miracle Mariners team actually trailed by 13 games in August before marching to the ALCS.

Entering September, the Tigers held a 9 1/2-game lead in the AL Central — over the Royals. The Guardians sat in third place, 10 1/2 back.

How did they do it?

Look no further than their lineup. Wait, no, that’s not it. Their offense ranks 29th in batting average, 29th in on-base percentage, 28th in slugging percentage and 28th in runs scored.

OK, well, what about their bullpen, a group that boasted four busy relievers with sub-2.00 ERAs last season? It’s been reliable lately, but regression from last season’s dominance was inevitable, especially with Emmanuel Clase sidelined as part of the league’s sports betting investigation.

No, the key to the Guardians’ awakening is the starting rotation, the backbone of the club for much of the last decade. Shifting to a six-man rotation in September kept the starters’ velocity and mechanics sharp, even as several members of the group crept toward career-high innings totals.

Even without Luis Ortiz, who is also wrapped up in the league’s investigation, and Shane Bieber — the longtime ace who was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in July, when the club opted for light selling at the trade deadline because a resurgence like this seemed implausible — the rotation churned out one quality start after another. Cleveland’s starters strung together 19 consecutive outings in which they allowed two runs or fewer, matching the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays for the longest streak since the 1917 Chicago White Sox.

That paved the way for three weeks of narrow, low-scoring victories that vaulted the club from the periphery of the wild-card race to the top of the AL Central.

Tigers, Guardians put the momentum theory to the test: Key matchups, predictions

By Cody Stavenhagen, Zack Meisel and more
Sept. 28, 2025Updated 11:11 pm EDT

The Tigers slinked in, surviving a monumental collapse to cling to a wild-card spot. The Guardians pulled off a true miracle, rising from the dead to win the division. Will any of that preamble matter once the teams are matched up in the postseason?
Game times

Game 1: Tuesday, 1:08 p.m. EST, ESPN
Game 2: Wednesday, 1:08 p.m. EST, ESPN
Game 3*: Thursday, 1:08 p.m. EST, ESPN
*If necessary; TV platform subject to change
Eno Sarris’ prediction

Tigers in three. September records are not correlated with postseason success, and though the Tigers have backed their way in, they get Tarik Skubal in Game One and then just have to (theoretically at least) find a way to pitching-chaos their way to another win in the next two. The Guardians have won more than their offensive numbers suggest they should, and that magic could run out any day.
Strengths and weaknesses

All statistics through Friday.
Detroit Tigers

87-75

6

Biggest strength: They have Tarik Skubal on the mound. The best lefty in baseball is on track for his second straight AL Cy Young Award. He entered the weekend with a 2.21 ERA in 195 1/3 innings.

Biggest weakness: There’s a lot of whiff in their lineup. Only the Rockies, Angels and Orioles have struck out at a higher rate than the Tigers this season. It’s showed up in September and has contributed to too many wasted opportunities.
Cleveland Guardians

88-74

3

Biggest strength: Cleveland’s starting pitchers went 19 consecutive games in September without allowing more than two runs, tying the longest streak in the last 100 years. The pitching factory has produced another strong staff, and it pulled this club from a pit of misery into the postseason.

Biggest weakness: The Guardians don’t really hit. They ranked 29th in the majors in OPS. They were better in September, but they were dreadful the five months before that. Their formula is to suppress the other team’s lineup and then churn out a timely hit or two that secures a narrow, low-scoring victory.
Key matchups

1. Tarik Skubal vs. Cleveland’s lineup

Including the postseason, the best left-hander in the game has a 2.50 career ERA against the Guardians. This year, he has faced the Guardians four times and allowed four runs, only two of them earned, in 28 innings. But Progressive Field has been a house of horrors for Skubal before. There was the Lane Thomas grand slam in last year’s ALDS. And there was Cleveland’s brigade of bunts that led to a costly defeat last week, plus the scary image of Skubal drilling David Fry in the face with a 99 mph fastball, something that left Skubal frazzled and riding with Stephen Vogt to visit Fry in the hospital. Dicey as it has been, Jhonkensy Noel is the only active Guardian with a home run against Skubal. José Ramirez’s .375 average against Skubal makes him the only Cleveland hitter who has had much success against the lefty. Second in batting average against Skubal is none other than Austin Hedges, the lifetime .185 hitter who is somehow 4-for-17 against Skubal in his career. Is there an unexpected (and right-handed) Cleveland hero lurking on the shores of Lake Erie, someone like Johnathan Rodriguez, who has occupied Fry’s spot in the order against lefties in recent days? The Guardians will need some magic — or, more bunts, maybe — to conquer Skubal in Game 1.

2. A.J. Hinch vs. Stephen Vogt

It was two years ago at MLB’s Winter Meetings when Hinch led a group of managers gathering at a Nashville watering hole. Among them was Stephen Vogt, who was entering his first season as Cleveland’s skipper. The conversation centered on advice and perspective. Flash ahead two seasons, and Vogt is vying for his second AL Manager of the Year Award, has taken two titles in Hinch’s division and has gone toe-to-toe with Hinch’s constant mixing and matching. Last October, Hinch maneuvered his matchups deftly but still wasn’t able to defeat Vogt’s Guardians. Facing off once again in the postseason, two of the game’s best will try to maximize every ounce of their scrappy rosters. The Tigers and Guardians have already played six times in the past 14 days.

“When we were playing them last (week),” Hedges said, “it was like, ‘We’re probably going to see you guys again in the playoffs. It’s just how it’s all going to work out.’ And what a beautiful thing.”

3. Kerry Carpenter vs. Cleveland’s bullpen

Kerry Carpenter’s home run off Emmanuel Clase in last year’s ALDS Game 2 was a flashpoint moment. Clase was not the same dominant force against the Yankees and even into this season. Now he’s on non-disciplinary paid leave amid a gambling investigation, and Cleveland has a new closer, Cade Smith, who eclipsed the 100-strikeout mark and led all relievers in fWAR in each of his first two big-league seasons. Carpenter is Hinch’s ultimate chess piece, a left-handed hitter who starts against righties and lurks on the bench against lefties. Including the postseason, Carpenter is 2-for-3 in his career against Smith. The only regular-season meeting came Sept. 16, when Carpenter hit a ninth-inning solo homer off of him, which sent the game to extra innings. The guy the Guardians want facing Carpenter in critical situations — or forcing him to the bench for a pinch-hitter — is southpaw Erik Sabrowski, who limited lefties to a .391 OPS this season and logged a 1.84 ERA overall.
Tale of the tape

Eno’s edge: They’ve played each other ad nauseam this season and to a near standstill, probably because the Guardians’ best strengths are built to neutralize the slim leads the Tigers have in the rotation and the power department. To wit, Detroit slugged under .400 against Cleveland despite owning a considerable slugging lead in all games played. Can the Tigers continue to get more out of their bullpen than the predictive peripherals say they should? That might swing the series.

Guardians top performers
Lineup

José Ramírez

3B

134 wRC+
Rotation

Gavin Williams

RHP

3.06 ERA
Bullpen

Cade Smith

RHP

104 Ks
Defense

Steven Kwan

LF

22 DRS

Cody’s X-factor, Javier Báez: His first half was a stellar story. His second half has been miserable. But when he contributes, the Tigers are a different team. Báez has an .815 OPS in wins and a .440 OPS in losses.

Tigers top performers
Lineup

Riley Greene

LF

36 HR
Rotation

Tarik Skubal

LHP

2.21 ERA
Bullpen

Will Vest

RHP

23 SV
Defense

Dillon Dingler

C

12 FRV

Zack’s X-factor, Kyle Manzardo: Manzardo is the only Guardian not named José Ramírez with 15+ home runs. He might seem like an obvious choice, but he suffered through a September swoon, and this lineup sorely needs his thump.

Guards Ball, the Gritty Tigs and a rivalry tinged with respect

By Cody Stavenhagen
Sept. 29, 2025 6:41 pm EDT

CLEVELAND — When the matchup was set Sunday afternoon, everyone in this odd American League Central orbit shared a similar reaction.

“It was always going to be Cleveland, right?” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch outside the Fenway Park clubhouse.

“When we were playing them last (week),” Guardians catcher Austin Hedges said at Progressive Field, “it was like, ‘We’re probably going to see you guys again in the playoffs. It’s just how it’s all going to work out.’”

Standing at his locker after Game 162, Tigers outfielder Riley Greene joked this matchup must have been drawn up in a writer’s room, sent down from on high.

“We’ve played Cleveland 50 times in the past four days,” he said.

OK, that’s an exaggeration. But the Tigers and Guardians have dueled six times in the past 14 days. They battled to a decisive Game 5 in last year’s American League Division Series. So many of these games have featured dramatic narrative arcs — think Kerry Carpenter clubbing home runs off dominant Guardians relievers and Steven Kwan tracking down fly balls that aren’t supposed to be caught.

There is José Ramírez, somehow seemingly always up to bat when it matters most. And there is Tarik Skubal, a pitcher with a lifetime 2.50 ERA against the Guardians, playoffs included, who has somehow suffered some of his most difficult moments here off Lake Erie.

“We know them well,” Guardians manager Stepehen Vogt said. “They know us well.”

“Familiarity,” Hinch said, “can be a blessing or a curse.”

Amid a division rivalry that has resulted in playoff meetings each of the past two years, something strange has happened. The Tigers and Guardians begin a three-game American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET. But instead of bad blood or bean balls, brawls or trash-talk, there’s humanity, mutual respect and a shared admiration between two teams built to be greater than the sum of their parts.

This is Detroit and Cleveland, Michigan and Ohio, the Tigers and Guardians at it again.

“I think just because you’re a rivalry doesn’t mean it has to be ugly, it has to be angry,” Vogt said. “We both want to win. We both play hard.”

As the truck rolled through the night, Tarik Skubal and Stephen Vogt talked.

The ace for the Tigers and the manager of the Guardians drove last Tuesday in Vogt’s truck to visit David Fry, the Guardians batter Skubal accidentally hit in the face with a 99 mph fastball only a few hours earlier.

How, exactly, did such a ride come to be?

“He was asking how he could get over to see him,” Vogt said, “and I was just about to leave and walk out to my car. I did what any other human being would do, and that’s offer someone a ride where they need to go.”

The drive to the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus likely took less than 15 minutes. In that short time, Vogt and Skubal talked about the play that left Fry with a broken nose and facial fractures. Skubal felt bad for throwing the pitch. Vogt felt bad for putting on the bunt sign that led to the situation.

“And we just kind of talked baseball, life, his kids, his family and kind of what’s going on there, my kids, my family,” Skubal said. “Just checking in on the human element of the game that goes overlooked a lot of the time.”

Strange as the pairing seemed, neither party said they found it awkward. Skubal and Vogt knew each other from across the field, had played against each other enough to feel a more personal connection. Skubal laughs at the way Vogt gives a football referee’s “no catch” signal any time a catcher drops a ball. Last year after Game 2 of the ALDS, when Skubal pitched seven shutout innings, Vogt stopped Skubal on the way to the bus.

“He said some really, really cool things that you don’t expect to be said to you,” Skubal said, “especially after (his) team loses in a game like that and we’re going home to our home field.”

Skubal visited Fry on Tuesday night along with Vogt and several Guardians players. Then Vogt dropped Skubal off at the Tigers’ team hotel.
Skubal has had some big moments against the Guardians, but some struggles as well.Nick Cammett / Getty Images

In an alternative universe, Vogt might have been a member of the Tigers’ coaching staff. Vogt’s relationship with Hinch dates to 2015, when they got to know each other at the All-Star Game. Hinch was in his first year managing the Astros, named to Ned Yost’s All-Star coaching staff. Vogt was in his age-30 MLB season.

“Over the years, you develop these baseball friendships from the other side,” Hinch said. “There’s always the bro hug. There’s always the common respect among catchers and ex-catchers. You seem to know people even if you haven’t spent a ton of time with them.”

At the All-Star Game, Vogt and Hinch got to talk on a deeper level. Hinch was impressed with how Vogt saw the game, with how his mind processed information.

“You don’t want to tell him, ‘You should retire,’ because he’s an All-Star,” Hinch said. “But I started hitting on him about getting into coaching, and if he ever wanted anything to let me know.”

A few years later, Vogt’s career was finally coming to an end. Hinch said he “put on a full-court press” to get Vogt on his coaching staff in Detroit. Vogt ended up taking a job with the Seattle Mariners as a bullpen and quality control coach.

Only one year later, with Hinch among his advocates, Vogt became manager of the Guardians. Hinch was among a small group of managers who gathered at a Nashville bar during MLB’s Winter Meetings. He brought Vogt into the group, where they all shared advice and perspective.

“A.J. has always been great to me,” Vogt said. “It’s a very friendly rivalry. We have a very high level of respect for each other.”

Now Vogt is a candidate to win back-to-back American League Manager of the Year Awards. While Hinch is regarded as one of the game’s best tactical managers, Vogt has become a foil and a thorn in the Tigers’ side. Last year in the postseason, the chess match often unfolded to Hinch’s liking. Vogt’s Guardians still executed and won the series.

“The length of their lineup, where they put the ball in play and put pressure on you, they do a lot of different things,” Hinch said. “They usually get the platoon advantage. They are relentless with coming at you with small ball. It feels like every time that a big spot comes up, they get to insert José Ramirez.”

This season, Vogt has managed toe-to-toe with Hinch. The Tigers rank first in pinch-hit plate appearances. The Guardians rank second. Vogt’s club leans far more heavily on stolen bases, bunts and other instances of small ball. Where Hinch mostly remains true to his analytical Astros upbringing — the Tigers rank last in steals and have attempted only five sacrifice bunts — his team takes extra bases at a rate higher than any other team in the past 50 years.

The teams are not carbon copies. The Tigers rank 16th in payroll, the Guardians 25th. But both teams pride themselves on development. The Tigers are striving to match the Guardians’ reputation as a pitching factory. While Cleveland’s offense ranks 28th in runs scored, the Tigers have their future tied to young hitters such as Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter.

“These teams are very, very similar,” Vogt said. “We’re built similarly. We match up well. We have both lefties, righties in bullpens and very good starting pitching. It’s an equally matched two teams.”

Last year the Guardians were the hunted, and the Tigers were a team making a historic run. This year, the roles are somewhat reversed.

The Tigers spent 151 game days in first place. Then their historic collapse coincided with Cleveland’s mad dash to the finish line. The Tigers went 7-17 in September. The Guardians went 20-7, including 5-1 against the Tigers. Detroit finished with 87 wins, Cleveland with 88. The Tigers set a record for the worst September choke to blow a division lead. The Guardians set a record for the biggest division comeback.

Monday at Progressive Field, another one of the faces of this rivalry shared some perspective. Some of this goes beyond what has happened over the past two years.

“We’ve seen these guys going back to Double A,” Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter said. ‘They’ve grown as pitchers. We’ve grown as hitters.”

Carpenter, for instance, talked about the evolution of Hunter Gaddis, once a starter for the Akron RubberDucks and now a key member of Cleveland’s lockdown bullpen. Carpenter was once an unheralded 19th-round pick who just wouldn’t stop slugging home runs for the Erie SeaWolves.

Last year in the ALDS, Carpenter hit a mammoth home run off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. This season, with Clase on non-disciplinary leave as result of a gambling investigation, Carpenter popped a home run off Cade Smith, the right-hander who has led relievers in fWAR each of the past two seasons.

Carpenter is Hinch’s favorite chess piece, likely to play a key role with Cleveland slated to pitch three right-handed starters in Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Slade Cecconi.

“It’s definitely cool and a blessing,” Carpenter said. “There are a lot of guys in here who have targets on their backs.”

Carpenter turned his shoulders and motioned to the locker behind him, where Skubal’s glove rested atop a wooden shelf.

“Probably no one more than this guy,” he said.

Skubal will start Tuesday’s Game 1 for the Tigers. Each of his two previous starts came against the Guardians, both Cleveland victories despite Skubal’s best efforts. Among the questions that will determine this series: Can Cleveland really slay Skubal three times in a row?

Even in assessing the other team’s ace, Guardians infielder Brayan Rocchio paid Skubal a compliment.

“Obviously he’s tough, but he likes to compete,” Rocchio said through an interpreter. “He’s one of my favorite pitchers.”

The Tigers face a Cleveland staff that has been straight nails all September. The Guardians had a 2.61 team ERA over the final month of the season. Williams, Bibee and Cecconi have a combined 1.31 ERA in 48 innings against the Tigers in 2025.

Weak as Cleveland’s lineup looks on paper, the Guardians scrapped their way to the AL Central title.

Brutal as the Tigers’ second-half slide was, here they are, playing the Guardians one more time with everything on the line.

Guardians needed offense or defense in Game 1. They got neither

By Zack Meisel
Sept. 30, 2025Updated 7:17 pm EDT

CLEVELAND — Imagine patrolling center field behind Tarik Skubal when he’s buzzing fastballs and floating changeups past Cleveland Guardians hitters.

One could peer up at the cloudless sky and track the wispy contrails left behind by each passing airplane. One could count the number of circular bulbs on each toothpick-shaped light post that sprouts from the upper deck at Progressive Field. (It’s 24, by the way.)

Parker Meadows spent nine innings in center field on Tuesday and didn’t touch a baseball. Much of that can be attributed to Skubal’s utter dominance on the mound. But Skubal and the Guardians’ lineup, for the Tigers’ sake, is a blissful marriage.

The Guardians arrived at the postseason like a participant at a speed dating event sporting a massive coffee stain on their shirt. Nothing to see here. Please just focus on my good qualities.

Cleveland’s .226 batting average is the worst all-time for any playoff team, aside from a handful of clubs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Guardians’ .296 on-base percentage? Also the worst for a playoff team. Their .373 slugging percentage (again, casting aside the 2020 teams) is the second-lowest of any playoff team since 1988.

So, this is one of the worst offenses ever to limp into October.

The Guardians muscled four balls out of the infield in 33 plate appearances on Tuesday: a Kyle Manzardo single, a Steven Kwan lineout to left, a José Ramírez flyout to right and a C.J. Kayfus popout that shortstop Javier Báez caught in shallow left to end the game.

As Guardians manager Stephen Vogt noted, it “took a little bit of Guards Ball turmoil there just to get one (run).” A week ago, Cleveland scratched across three runs against Skubal on a couple of bunts, an infield hit and an errant Skubal football snap. On Tuesday, they scored their lone run with a similar batch of zaniness. That’s not exactly a formula a team can employ at will, though.

Play: Video

In a game in which the Guardians knew they’d have zero margin for error, they leaned on the platoon advantage. That meant a heavy dose of righties Johnathan Rodríguez and Jhonkensy Noel, who combined to go 0-for-6 with five strikeouts and two errors that paved the way for the Tigers’ two runs.

Rodríguez spent two months in the minors before randomly surfacing in the cleanup spot on Saturday night, hitting a home run against the Texas Rangers, and then earning the same assignment against the soon-to-be back-to-back Cy Young Award winner in a playoff series.

Noel rode the I-71 shuttle between Triple-A Columbus and Cleveland all season. The Guardians tried to wedge him into a right-field platoon with Nolan Jones. Neither guy delivered. Noel, a 2024 postseason hero, posted a .480 OPS in 2025.

They’ve been stubborn with handedness all year, and they refused to deviate just because the stakes soared. The Guardians had the platoon advantage in 78.6 percent of their plate appearances this season. The next closest team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, checked in at 66.3 percent. Cleveland’s mark is the highest of any team since the 1987 St. Louis Cardinals.

It’s called a platoon advantage because, typically, a hitter would prefer to see a pitcher of opposite handedness for an easier time tracking the ball. But even with all of their mixing and matching, the Guardians’ offense still sputtered through much of the season. They ranked 29th in the league in batting average, 29th in on-base percentage and 29th in slugging percentage.

Platoons are great when the players complement each other, but that requires some output. Look no further than the man who tossed the ceremonial pitch before Game 1, Lonnie Chisenhall. He paired well with Brandon Guyer during Cleveland’s run to the 2016 World Series. Tyler Naquin and Jordan Luplow combined for 25 homers and an OPS approaching .850 in 2019.

There’s a reason Rodríguez and Noel spent so much time in the minors this year. And it’s one thing to sputter at the plate against Skubal, but to falter defensively in what was destined to be a close, low-scoring game ultimately doomed the Guardians. Skubal is inevitably going to make most hitters look foolish, but he doesn’t have drastic platoon splits.

“We balance defense with offense all the time,” said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “When you’re facing Tarik Skubal, you have to score. We weren’t able to get anything going.”

The Tigers gift-wrapped the Guardians a golden opportunity in the ninth, with Ramírez smacking an infield single — only one of Cleveland’s four hits found outfield grass — and advancing to third on Báez’s wild throw. Then Manzardo hit one back to the pitcher, and Ramírez was caught dancing halfway down the line.

Ramírez declined to speak with reporters after the game, aside from acknowledging he was running on contact. It’s hard to blame an aggressive baserunner for trying to spark something when the Guardians’ primary method for scoring runs is to chop the ball off the plate and run amok. If anything, maybe there’s some culpability in Ramírez not simply continuing to charge down the line to force a play at the plate. That worked for Angel Martínez in that wonky fourth inning.

The good news for the Guardians, whose season will end in unceremonious fashion with one more defeat? Their pitching keeps them in just about every game. Gavin Williams’ ascent toward ace-dom continued with six strong innings tarnished only by the miscues committed behind him. Even with an overmatched lineup that had backup catcher Austin Hedges submitting the highest-quality at-bats against Skubal, the Guardians stood a couple of lapses in execution from a Game 1 triumph.

Vogt’s nine should look a lot different for Game 2 against righty Casey Mize. Enter Kayfus and George Valera and Bo Naylor, maybe Daniel Schneemann or, perhaps, Chase DeLauter for his major-league debut. At last, a lineup that should give Meadows some activity instead of another afternoon spent burying sunflower seeds in the outfield grass.

Rocchio and Naylor’s Clutch Home Runs Powers Guardians’ Stunning Comeback, Force Decisive Game 3 Against Tigers

The Cleveland Guardians, on the brink of elimination in the eighth inning, erupted for five runs led by a Brayan Rocchio homer, storming past the Detroit Tigers 6-1 on Wednesday. The win evens the American League Wild Card Series at one game apiece.

The winner-take-all Game 3 is set for Thursday, with a trip to the AL Division Series against the Seattle Mariners hanging in the balance. For the Tigers, it was a night of crushing missed opportunities, leaving an astonishing 15 runners on base and going a dismal 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The inability to deliver a timely hit will surely haunt them as they face a do-or-die scenario.

Rocchio Homer Breaks 1-1 Tie

The game was a nail-biting, 1-1 deadlock heading into the bottom of the eighth, with every pitch feeling heavier than the last. That’s when Rocchio, the Guardians’ second baseman, turned on a blistering 99.9 mph fastball from Tigers reliever Troy Melton, launching a solo home run that sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The blast broke the tension and opened the floodgates for Cleveland. An RBI double from Daniel Schneemann followed, extending the lead and setting the stage for the knockout blow. With two outs, catcher Bo Naylor stepped to the plate and delivered the dagger. He golfed a sweeper from lefty Brant Hurter over the right-field wall for a three-run homer, blowing the game wide open at 6-1.

The dugout erupted, and the stadium rocked with the realization that their team had fought its way back from the edge. It was a stunning display of clutch hitting from a team that had been mostly silent for seven innings, validating manager Stephen Vogt’s faith in his young players.

The Tigers, in contrast, couldn’t buy a run. They loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth, a final glimmer of hope. But Guardians closer Cade Smith induced a sharp lineout from Dillon Dingler to end the threat and the game, leaving Detroit to wonder what could have been. A pivotal overturned call in the fourth inning, where a great throw from rookie Chase DeLauter nabbed a runner at third, kept a go-ahead run off the board for the Tigers and loomed large as the game wore on.

What’s Next: A Winner-Take-All Showdown

Now, it all comes down to one game. The Guardians have seized the momentum behind the power of Rocchio, and Naylor, while the Tigers must quickly regroup from a frustrating loss defined by squandered chances.

Deciding Game:

The Tigers will send right-hander Jack Flaherty (8-15, 4.64 ERA) to the mound for his eighth career postseason start. The Guardians will counter with righty Slade Cecconi (7-7, 4.30 ERA), who will be making his playoff debut.

For the winner:

The winner will travel to Seattle for Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday, Oct. 4.

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